Post by sclcookie on Jun 2, 2006 1:22:56 GMT -5
Opinion on man's innocence bid is due----Ex-Death Row inmate seeking full
pardon
A recommendation on whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should declare the
innocence of a former Death Row inmate is expected within 10 days.
Jorge Montes, chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, said
Wednesday that his agency would soon make its confidential recommendation
on a pardon sought by Gordon "Randy" Steidl, even though a probe into the
double murder that sent him to prison continues.
"The time has come to conclude this, to end this matter, and we will be
sending our recommendation to the governor by the end of next week,"
Montes said. "We can no longer hold off."
Steidl's attorneys are seeking a pardon based on innocence. In a recent
letter to Montes, they sought an immediate recommendation, even though the
grand jury investigation into the 1986 murders of newlyweds Karen and d**e
Rhoads in Downstate Paris is continuing beyond the end of May, when
prosecutors had said it would end.
Special Prosecutors Ed Parkinson and David Rands, of the appellate
prosecutor's office, recently informed the Review Board that the probe
would go on, partly because of the death last month of Illinois State
Police Sgt. Rodney Miller, who was in charge of the case.
"There does not appear to be any additional evidence produced by this
investigation pointing to Mr. Steidl," Parkinson wrote in a letter to
Montes, adding that "we do not stand in the way" of a recommendation.
Parkinson on Wednesday noted the 2 main witnesses at Steidl's jury trial
have repeatedly changed their stories.
"I would never retry that case with just that evidence," he said.
In his letter, Parkinson said "a declaration of actual innocence is an
extraordinary remedy."
Karen Daniel, one of Steidl's attorneys, said such a pardon would give her
client "peace of mind" that would otherwise elude him, partly because
there's no statute of limitations on murder.
"To a survivor of wrongful incarceration such as Randy Steidl, there is no
event in his legal proceedings that surpasses in significance an
innocence-based pardon," she wrote in a letter to Montes.
With it, "he can hope to persuade employers, landlords, educational
institutions, police officers and others to place him on an equal footing
with other free citizens," she added.
Steidl, 54, spent 17 years behind bars, 12 on death row, before he was
released in May 2004.
His freedom came after Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan dropped an appeal of a
federal court ruling granting Steidl a new trial, and prosecutors said
they could not prepare for trial within a 120-day deadline set by the
court.
Nearly a year after his release, a federal civil court jury determined an
effort by former Illinois State Police Lt. Michale Callahan to reopen the
case was thwarted by his superiors in violation of Callahan's civil
rights. Callahan came to believe Steidl and onetime codefendant Herb
Whitlock, who had been drinking buddies, were innocent.
Winning a pardon would clear Steidl's name and make him eligible for a
Court of Claims award of about $160,000. It also could help him in a
federal lawsuit he filed last year, alleging police and prosecutors sought
to frame him and Whitlock.
Though Whitlock, 60, was convicted with much of the same evidence, he
continues to serve a life sentence. He recently appealed a trial court
decision denying him a new trial and has requested clemency.
A recommendation on Whitlock's case has been pending at the governor's
office since May 2003, Montes said.
(source: Chicago Tribune)
pardon
A recommendation on whether Gov. Rod Blagojevich should declare the
innocence of a former Death Row inmate is expected within 10 days.
Jorge Montes, chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, said
Wednesday that his agency would soon make its confidential recommendation
on a pardon sought by Gordon "Randy" Steidl, even though a probe into the
double murder that sent him to prison continues.
"The time has come to conclude this, to end this matter, and we will be
sending our recommendation to the governor by the end of next week,"
Montes said. "We can no longer hold off."
Steidl's attorneys are seeking a pardon based on innocence. In a recent
letter to Montes, they sought an immediate recommendation, even though the
grand jury investigation into the 1986 murders of newlyweds Karen and d**e
Rhoads in Downstate Paris is continuing beyond the end of May, when
prosecutors had said it would end.
Special Prosecutors Ed Parkinson and David Rands, of the appellate
prosecutor's office, recently informed the Review Board that the probe
would go on, partly because of the death last month of Illinois State
Police Sgt. Rodney Miller, who was in charge of the case.
"There does not appear to be any additional evidence produced by this
investigation pointing to Mr. Steidl," Parkinson wrote in a letter to
Montes, adding that "we do not stand in the way" of a recommendation.
Parkinson on Wednesday noted the 2 main witnesses at Steidl's jury trial
have repeatedly changed their stories.
"I would never retry that case with just that evidence," he said.
In his letter, Parkinson said "a declaration of actual innocence is an
extraordinary remedy."
Karen Daniel, one of Steidl's attorneys, said such a pardon would give her
client "peace of mind" that would otherwise elude him, partly because
there's no statute of limitations on murder.
"To a survivor of wrongful incarceration such as Randy Steidl, there is no
event in his legal proceedings that surpasses in significance an
innocence-based pardon," she wrote in a letter to Montes.
With it, "he can hope to persuade employers, landlords, educational
institutions, police officers and others to place him on an equal footing
with other free citizens," she added.
Steidl, 54, spent 17 years behind bars, 12 on death row, before he was
released in May 2004.
His freedom came after Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan dropped an appeal of a
federal court ruling granting Steidl a new trial, and prosecutors said
they could not prepare for trial within a 120-day deadline set by the
court.
Nearly a year after his release, a federal civil court jury determined an
effort by former Illinois State Police Lt. Michale Callahan to reopen the
case was thwarted by his superiors in violation of Callahan's civil
rights. Callahan came to believe Steidl and onetime codefendant Herb
Whitlock, who had been drinking buddies, were innocent.
Winning a pardon would clear Steidl's name and make him eligible for a
Court of Claims award of about $160,000. It also could help him in a
federal lawsuit he filed last year, alleging police and prosecutors sought
to frame him and Whitlock.
Though Whitlock, 60, was convicted with much of the same evidence, he
continues to serve a life sentence. He recently appealed a trial court
decision denying him a new trial and has requested clemency.
A recommendation on Whitlock's case has been pending at the governor's
office since May 2003, Montes said.
(source: Chicago Tribune)